AVP Colorado

About New Foundations

About US

New Foundations offers the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) in Colorado communities and prisons. AVP is an international volunteer progam that enables participants to deal with potentially violent situations in new and creative ways.

Who We Are

New Foundations Nonviolence Center was established in 1988 when Bruce Thron-Weber brought AVP to Colorado. Today, New Foundations is a sponsored project of the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center.

Where We Started

AVP started Green Haven Prison in New York in 1975, and now also operates in communities, schools, colleges and conflict situations worldwide.

What We Do

We don’t lecture or preach. Our experiential workshops use the shared experiences of participants, interactive exercises, games and role plays to examine the ways in which we respond to situations where injustice, prejudice, frustration, and anger can lead to aggressive behavior and violence.

An AVP Workshop Can Help You To

understand why conflict happens

manage strong feelings such as anger and fear

deal more effectively with risk and danger

build good relationships with other people

communicate well in difficult situations

be true to yourself while respecting other people

recognize the skills you already have and learn new ones

What People Are Saying

Captain Bowers at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility said, “I believe that Alternatives to Violence has guided our abused offender participants in a positive direction. The offenders have told me the materials learned during the sessions gave them options they never realized they had. Many offenders have also stated they will find the courage to walk away from abusive relationships.

A Volunteer Facilitator said:
“AVP has given me the opportunity to inspire others to look inward—and to discover new things about myself. We can all use these tools to better our relationships at home and at work too.”

A person in prison said: ” I returned to prison five times in seven years, but today was a blessing—in giving my full attention and learning new ways to deal with anger.”

Another said, “It really helped me sit back, take a look at my old ways of living, and how I have handled conflict. I received great feedback from other participants and facilitators.”